The 44th Annual

Northern Ohio Human Resource Conference (NOHRC)

March 12, 2010

I-X Center • Cleveland, Ohio

Leave Management – What You Need to Know to Continue Fostering Employee Brilliance

Learning Objectives:                                

The purpose of the presentation is to provide the audience with a cutting-edge strategies for managing employees with medical conditions. This is a new and unique program, as it addresses the ADA regulations set to go into effect in February 2010, the brand new guidance on managing employees during pandemics and the most up to date information on FMLA and pregnancy leave issues. By the end of the session, the attendees will learn how to 1) Engage in the interactive process when an employee claims a disability under the new ADA regulations; 2) Reduce FMLA abuse; 3) Manage a business during a pandemic; and 4) Take control of absenteeism.

This new and unique program will address the ADA regulations set to go into effect in February 2010, the brand new guidance on managing employees during pandemics and the most up to date information on FMLA and pregnancy leave issues. Following the presentation, attendees will be able to identify strategies for managing employees with medical conditions under these new regulations. Presentation will include:

• Case study examples to illustrate how to engage in the interactive process when an employee claims a disability under the new ADA regulations

• Best practices on developing policy and communicating with employees to help reduce FMLA abuse

In addition to a typical presentation, this session will include interactive portions with the attendees.  During a role-play portions of the session attendees will have the opportunity to illustrate how they would handle various employer-employee communication scenarios.

Attendees will see how their peers handle various leave management related issues, and can interact with one another on suggested approaches.  Following each role play, a description of how to best handle the situation in order to avoid increased potential liability for the employer in addition to preserving an ideal working environment for your employees.  Role play topics will include leave requests from employees who have a dissatisfactory work record, extended leave requests, handling terminations in response to abuse of leave policy, among others.

The presentation will conclude with a question and answer session that will also engage the attendees allowing peers to present how past experiences did and should have been best handled.

BIO - Nicole Monachino

Nicole M. Monachino is an Associate in the Cleveland office of Jackson Lewis LLP. She is the firm’s central regional coordinator for its Disability, Leave and Health Management practice group.

Ms. Monachino has extensive litigation experience representing employers and managers in employment discrimination/harassment/ retaliation claims, wage and hour lawsuits and restrictive covenant disputes.  Ms. Monachino’s federal court trial experience includes a successful age discrimination and retaliation trial in the Southern District of Ohio in 2008, wherein the jury ruled in favor of the employer and individual managers on all counts, after a twelve day trial.  She has also second chaired a significant wage and hour litigation against the Solicitor of Labor, regarding claims of misclassification of numerous logistics and trucking related positions.  Ms. Monachino has also successfully litigated cases in Ohio state courts, both in first and second chair capacities.

Ms. Monachino received a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Hiram College and her juris doctorate degree, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame Law School. She was the Executive Articles Editor for the Journal of Legislation and was a member of the Moot Court team during law school.

In addition to her legal activities, Ms. Monachino is the chair of the Communications Committee for the Hiram College Alumni Executive Board and has served on the board since 2004.  She is also an active member of the Cleveland Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM).